Featured Blog | Predatory tactics in gaming are worse than you think
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I want to shed light on a tactic that involves collecting data as you play, feeding this data into complex algorithms and models that then alter the rules of your game under the hood to optimize spending opportunities.

I want to shed light on a tactic that involves collecting data as you play, feeding this data into complex algorithms and models that then alter the rules of your game under the hood to optimize spending opportunities.

  • missingno@fedia.io
    4·
    2 days ago

    I think there’s an argument to be made that some level of retention strategy may be a necessary evil in today’s market, especially when all your competitors are doing it. No developer wants to run the risk of letting that playerbase dry up. You can have the best multiplayer game in the world, but all the brownie points for playing fair wouldn’t mean much if I’m sitting in an empty queue with no one to play with.

    It’s fine line to walk to make sure players are coming back for the right reasons, but you do want them to come back.

    • ampersandrew@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      2 days ago

      I think there’s also an argument to be made that all of this desire to suck up our attention has made it more difficult for the same developers to market their next game, since their potential customers are all preoccupied with something they haven’t stopped playing. It’s extremely natural for most people to fall off of a game after its initial release, and it’s definitely going to happen once they take their thumbs off the scales.

      • Maestro@fedia.io
        2·
        2 days ago

        Now you have a prisoner’s dilemma. A lot of studio’s need to take their thumbs off the scale at the same time, or you’re just sending your customers to someone else.

        • ampersandrew@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          2 days ago

          I’ve been looking for deathmatch shooters for a long time, like what we got from the late 90s to the mid 10s. There are very very few. I don’t care if I or anyone else move on quickly, because I primarily want to play with my friends, and the deathmatch mode typically came alongside a campaign and maybe co-op modes. That’s not a prisoner’s dilemma, and the market hasn’t really been making games like that anymore. Same for things like arcade racers akin to F-Zero or Burnout.

        • SheeEttin@lemmy.zipEnglish
          3·
          2 days ago

          I’d argue they’re different markets. The people who play every new Call of Duty and the people who play Spec Ops: The Line are not the same people.